Earth or Asgard
by blondehairedknowitall
Summary: Lavender is a childhood friend of Loki and Thor. She leads a relatively normal life but as bad event after bad event leads to her being stranded on Earth can she pluck up the courage to help the Avengers fight off the chitauri and mend her relationship with Loki at the same time? (sorry, my summaries suck!) Please review!
1. Chapter 1

"Stop it!" Lavender giggled as Thor threw another snowball at her.

"And what if I don't?" Thor laughed.

She paused for a moment to think of something witty to say, but she couldn't help herself; she quickly gathered a pile of snow together and threw it at him. As it hit him Lavender started to giggle and Thor chased after her.

"C'mon, stop now," she said trying to be serious, but Thor just laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing, I just find it funny when you're trying to be serious."

She scowled at him before standing up straight, "I have come to see Loki, Prince of Asgard," she declared, acting as if Thor wasn't a prince – she knew this annoyed him.

Now it was his turn to scowl at her, before throwing another snowball.

"Urgh, what are you, eight?" She teased.

"No, you are," he said calmly, "Did you forget how to count again, Lav?" he said pulling his tongue at her, "I'm nine, remember?"

She knew she'd lost this time; she always lost when she was by herself. "Can I just go and see Loki now, please?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Oh fine, come on then," he smiled, knowing he'd won.

They both walked into the palace and Lavender asked if Loki was feeling any better, Thor told her that he was getting better and that he should be fine by next week.

They got to Loki's bedroom and Lavender was slightly mesmerised by the huge doors - she'd never been this far into the palace before - she expected Thor to knock but instead he just barged in. She should have known better.

She walked in behind Thor, seeing Loki's annoyance at him barging in; Loki never liked people coming in without knocking, however all his annoyance melted away when he saw her, "Lavender!" He beamed, getting out of bed and running towards her. She ran towards him and they both hugged each other.

Thor rolled his eyes, "it's like you haven't seen each other in months!"

"You're only jealous," Lavender said, ticking her tongue out at him.

"What are you, five?"

"Actually, we're eight," Loki smiled

"Forget how to count?" Lavender mocked.

Now it was Thor's turn to change the subject.

The three of them sat on Loki's bed and laughed and joked and played for hours until Frigga came in, telling Lavender it was time to go home. Thor and Loki both complained but Frigga told them that Lavender could come over again the next day. Lavender gave them both a hug before she went and met her father at the gates to go home.


	2. Chapter 2

Lavender was riding towards the palace, thinking back to her childhood days. She'd first met Thor when she was with her father, who happened to be a palace guard. Thor always liked to see the guards and their weapons and Lavender had asked her father to bring her along because secretly, she too liked the guards, although it was because of their uniforms instead of their weapons. They'd both got talking and became good friends, then Thor introduced her to Loki and they both became even better friends.

They used to see each other every day but since Lavender moved to the outskirts of the city they didn't see each other as much and as Thor and Loki got older and older they had less and less time to spend with her.

It had been almost six months since she'd last saw Thor and Loki. The last time she'd been to the palace was when she was eight years old and Loki was sick, and now, ironically, Loki was sick again. She had been walking through the market when she'd heard two women gossiping about the royal family and how the prince was ill, that's when she'd decided to go and visit. She'd decided to go in hope to cheer him up, but now she wasn't too sure, as the last time she'd seen Loki they'd both had an argument.

She reached the gate and her stomach churned; what if Loki didn't want to see her?

"Ah, Lavender!" an old guard greeted her at the gate, he was a friend of her fathers and she knew him well.

"Hello, Harald," she greeted him, "are you well?"

"Yes, thank you. I trust you're well, and your father?"

"Yes, we are both well, thank you,"

"I'm guessing you've come to cheer young prince Loki up?"

"Ah, yes… and to visit Thor,"

"You're welcome, as always, but your dagger if you please, you know the rules,"

"Of course," she said handing her dagger to Harald. It had a golden hilt and it was one of the finest blades in the nine realms made by Dwarves. Loki had given it to her out of the blue one day, telling her that she needed something decent to protect herself with.

Harald let her through and she slowly made her way into the palace, trying to remember which way Thor had led her all those years ago. She was beginning to think that this was a bad idea until she heard a familiar voice booming behind her, "Lavender? Is that you?"

She turned around to see Thor walking towards her, "Thor! Hello!" she smiled, relieved to see him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, giving her a hug, "I haven't seen you in years!" he laughed.

"It's only been six months, don't be so over dramatic," she teased.

"Only six months? You do realise how long that is?"

She nodded apologetically, "sorry, but you're always too busy and ever since I moved it's just been hard."

Thor sighed, knowing the real reason why he hadn't seen her for months, "so have you come to visit Loki?"

Lavender paused before replying, "That was the idea, but do you know if he's still angry with me?"

"He stopped being angry with you in a matter of days after the argument, he's just too proud to apologise, like you."

Lavender smiled guiltily, "how is he? Nothing serious is it?"

"No, of course not, he's just grouchy, he hasn't spoken for days and he pretends to be sleeping every time I walk in, seeing you might do him some good!"

She smiled a little at this.

Thor led her through the palace and to Loki's room. She was still mesmerised by the huge doors and Thor barging in still surprised her. She walked in behind Thor but Loki was under the covers, presumably pretending to sleep like Thor said.

"I'll leave you to it," Thor told her, leaving the room.

She slowly walked over to the bed, "Loki, it's me, Lavender," but he didn't move.

She sat on the bed next to him and slowly lifted the covers up to reveal his face. His eyes were closed and he breathed smoothly and steadily. She smiled at him with fondness; he looked perfect to her. She planted a kiss on his forehead and decided to leave. Just as she got to the door she heard him mumble. She paused for a moment until he sat up, "Lavender? Is that you?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

She walked back towards him, "Yeah, it's me, are you ok?"

"I am now," he smiled.

Lavender couldn't help herself, she sat down and hugged him tight, "I'm sorry for what I said before,"

Loki hugged her back, "It's ok, I'm sorry for what I said too."

Lavender pulled away from him and placed a hand on his forehead, "You're burning up! Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine Lavender! Don't worry about me,"

"Don't worry, I'm not," she teased.

Loki smirked back, "you keep telling yourself that."

They both laughed and sat and talked for a while until the conversation inevitably led to their argument.

"So, how are you and Bjorn?" He asked.

Lavender went quiet and turned away from him, "it's complicated," she mumbled.

He put his hand on her shoulder, "do you want to talk about it?"

"He… I… you were right, Loki. I should've trusted you and I'm sorry, I'm so stupid!"

"Don't you dare say that, you're brilliant! Lavender, it's not your fault and I'm just sorry I didn't make up with you earlier,"

"It's ok… he just stopped visiting, then one night he came to my house and asked me to go on a walk with him through the city and he just left me there, by myself and-"

Loki had gotten up and started to look for his boots.

"Loki, what are doing?"

"I'm paying Bjorn a visit," he said bluntly.

"No! Loki, get back to bed, you're sick!"

"He's not getting away with this!" he said raising his voice.

Lavender shrunk back at Loki's raised voice, "Loki, please, he won't get away with it, my sister's already given him a mouthful. You're sick, go back to bed, please,"

Loki had seen how she'd shrunk back when he'd raised his voice so he reluctantly climbed back into bed "come here," he sighed, opening his arms out.

She climbed onto the bed next to him and rested her head on his chest, "thank you,"

"Can I still get Thor to beat him up?" he asked, trying to get her to laugh.

She couldn't help but giggle, "Yeah sure, the more damage the better!" she snickered, wiping away her tears.

They talked for a while more until she said that she had to go. She gave him a hug and said goodbye.

"Don't be too long," he smirked at her,

"Oh stop it you!" she giggled closing the door behind her.

She walked towards the gate meeting Thor there.

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked,

"No, I should be good thanks,"

Thor nodded then gave her a hug. He lingered a bit then gave her a quick kiss. Lavender was shocked at this development; Thor liked her? She didn't know what to do, should she pull away or kiss him back? Thor pulled away and smiled but she settled on ignoring what had just happened and awkwardly said goodbye. She got her dagger back from Harald then made the long journey home.


	3. Chapter 3

It took about half an hour for her to get home and it got dark fast, strangely it got colder too. She was suddenly glad that she had her dagger with her. She noticed a hooded figure in the distance but she took no notice, the kiss Thor had given her had left her confused and she couldn't stop thinking about it.

When she finally got home, she put her horse, Chestnut in his stable and quietly slipped inside the house.

"You're late. Where have you been?" Her sister, Eleanor asked.

Lavender rolled her eyes, "I'm not late, actually I'm right on time," she said smirking and heading to her room.

"You didn't answer my question, where have you been?"

"Out…"

"Lavender, I'm not going to ask you again,"

"I was at the palace, visiting my friends,"

Eleanor laughed slightly, "and what friends do you have in the palace?"

"Loki and Thor,"

Eleanor's face dropped. She never liked the fact that Lavender was friends with the two princes, "I thought you weren't talking to Prince Loki?"

"Doesn't mean I can't talk to Thor, and anyway, we've settled our differences,"

Eleanor watched, annoyed as Lavender went up the stairs to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

Lavender always had to wake up early at the end of the week to go to market and set up her stall. She got dressed into a poor looking dress and plaited her hair up so none of it would be in the way. She quietly went down to the kitchen and got some bread to eat for breakfast and gathered her basket full of cloths and threads then went to get Chestnut from the stables. She gave him his feed while she saddled him up and when he'd finished she began the journey to market.  
She left Chestnut in the city stables and then walked the rest of the way. It was nearly the same as every week, no-one greeted her or even acknowledged her presence as she'd never taken the time to get to know any of them, she only sold half of what she'd made and there was little profit. The only difference was that this week she had to stay there all day as her sister wasn't coming to take over at midday.  
She'd been there all morning and the midday sun was hot and bright but at least one moon was still visible. No-one was interested in cloths and threads now; all they were interested in was food. Lavender sat down bored and hungry. She'd only had a slice of bread and that was nearly six hours ago. The smell of pheasant cooking in the distance made her mouth water and her stomach growl.  
"Hungry?" came a familiar voice from behind her,  
"Loki? What are you doing here? You should be in bed,"  
Loki shrugged and sat down handing her an apple, "I know how much you like Midgardian fruit," he smiled,  
Lavender beamed at him, "you got this just for me?" she asked, before taking a bite out of it.  
"Of course I did. I know you don't tend to eat much on market days so I thought it'd be a nice treat,"  
"Thank you, Loki. It's the best apple I've ever tasted!"  
"Well, I did pick it," he smirked, "anyway, when's your sister coming to take over?"  
"She's not today…"  
Loki frowned, "why not?"  
"Apparently she's got 'stuff' to do,"  
"Well so do you," Loki said grabbing her hand and standing up, "come on, no-one else is going to come today, pack up,"  
Lavender smirked, "really, what 'stuff' have I to do?"  
"You're coming with me. That's important enough, isn't it?"  
"And what if I decline?"  
"Then I'll make it an order,"  
She rolled her eyes, "Loki, you know I can't leave, I have to stay,"  
"Oh come on, Lav, please? I haven't seen you in months, just one day, please?" he gave her puppy eyes knowing that she'd give in,  
She sighed, "Oh fine! But give me just another hour,"  
Loki agreed and sat with her for the rest of the hour. As soon as the hour was up he immediately made her pack up, "come on!" he beamed guiding her towards the palace,  
"Loki wait, I've got to take my stuff back and get Chestnut,"  
"Chestnut is already at the palace stables, that's where we're going; your things will be safe there,"  
When they reached the stables Loki took her basket off her and told her to get dressed into her riding clothes.  
"You kept my stuff?" She asked, slightly surprised,  
"Of course I did, I didn't have the heart to throw it," he admitted,  
Lavender smiled and went to get ready. 'What is he up to?' she thought as she let her hair down.  
Loki had been looking at her profits and noticed she hadn't made much. He suddenly felt bad for dragging her away from her stall so he slipped a bag of coins into the basket as he put it onto a high up shelf just as Lavender came back in.  
"So, what are you up to then?"  
"Oh, nothing much," he shrugged, half smiling and climbed up onto Chestnut.  
"Hey, what do you think you're doing on _my_ horse?"  
Loki rolled his eyes, offering out his hand to help her up, "Thor has my horse as his horse has a sprained leg. He, Sif, fandral, Volstagg and Hogun have gone out,"  
"Why didn't you go with them?" she asked, taking Loki's hand and climbing up onto Chestnut.  
Loki shrugged, riding out of the stables, "I'd rather be with you."  
"Oh…" she mumbled, blushing slightly, behind him. They rode out past through the main city and into the more quiet outer edges of the city. Lavender thought he might take her to the infamous tavern on the outer edges of the city but they passed it without so much as slowing down. Loki finally started slowing down when they reached the edges of the forest.  
"Loki, you're not taking me in there, are you?" She asked nervously.  
Loki laughed, getting off the horse and led them in, "it's not as dangerous as everyone says you know. You have your dagger anyway, don't you?"  
"Of course I do, but-"  
"There you go then, nothing to be afraid of,"  
Loki walked in a little further, keeping to the overgrown trail then stopped when they turned the corner. He tied Chestnut to a tree and helped Lavender down, "follow me," he said, grabbing her hand and leading her through the shrubs and trees off of the trail.  
"Loki, where are we going?"  
"You'll see," he smirked.  
They walked for what seemed like hours, to Lavender, until Loki finally stopped, "stand in front of me," he told her and then covered her eyes with his hands.  
"What are you doing?" She giggled.  
"I told you; you'll see,"  
"Well, I'm not seeing much right now!" She laughed, slowly moving forward, relying on Loki as a guide.  
Loki finally stopped and uncovered her eyes. It took a moment for Lavender to take it all in, "Loki, it's beautiful…" she breathed.  
They were in a meadow, surrounded with trees and the only thing that could be heard was the rustling of leaves by the wind and the sounds of various birds singing. It was summer and the flowers were in full bloom and they'd never smelt better to her.  
"I never knew this forest had a sweet side…" she said to Loki's turned back "…just like you…" she said, pretending to tease, but on the inside she meant it from the bottom of her heart.  
Loki laughed at her - not realising she was serious – then started to chase her. They spent hours laughing and joking and playing around together until they both collapsed next to a tree together, laughing.  
"I should be getting back…"  
"Stay, just a little longer, please?" He asked, playing with her fingers.  
Lavender giggled and rested her head on Loki's shoulder, "ok, just a little longer…"  
They both went quiet for a little while, just listening to the birds and basking in the sunlight.  
"Loki…" Lavender sighed, "I need to ask you something…" she said, sitting up and facing him with a slightly troubled look.  
"What is it?" He asked sitting up, concerned.  
"I… I don't know how to ask this but… err… has Thor ever mentioned me to you?"  
Loki sighed; he knew where this was going, "what do you mean?"  
"You know what I mean…"  
Loki nodded, "yes, he likes you, why'd you ask?"  
"How long have you known?"  
He shrugged, "well over a year…"  
"A year and you never told me!?"  
"It didn't seem important…"  
"You should've told me, I… urgh!"  
"Why?"  
"He… last night he, err, he kissed me…"  
Loki was slightly taken back and slightly hurt, "oh… and did you return it?"  
"No! And neither do I return his feelings,"  
"And why's that?"  
"Because I-…" she leaned in close to him then pressed her lips against his before pulling back, "…because I love _you_."  
Loki went slightly red, and then he cupped her face in his hand, "I love you too," he said, kissing her.  
She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her waist. She couldn't help reaching up into his silky smooth hair and ruffling through it. It felt like pure Valhalla to her, and it finished too soon. Loki pulled away, breathless, "I love you so much," he grinned.  
"I love you too," she breathed, still taking in the kiss and the sweet taste of his lips.  
He picked her up bridal style and made his way out of the clearing. Any other time and she would've objected but she had something else to object to this time, "no, Loki, can't we stay, just a little longer?"  
Loki chuckled to himself, "no, it'll be dark soon,"  
"So?"  
Loki laughed even more, "I thought you usually avoided danger?"  
"Not when I'm with you," she smirked.  
"You could stay for dinner?" He asked hopefully.  
"Loki, I don't think I should… you know I- I'm not dressed properly and I-…"  
Loki laughed at her excuses, "I can easily fix that," he smirked, changing her clothes with just a thought. A long, green silk dress draped her body lightly instead of her trousers and tight fitting top.  
"Perfect," he teased.  
"Oh stop it you!" but she couldn't help blushing.  
"Will you come to dinner now?"  
"Loki, I really don't think I'd be that welcome…"  
"Of course you'd be welcome! My mother practically considers you part of the family. Seriously, all I heard from her when we'd fallen out was 'where's Lavender?' and 'I wish you two would settle your differences'"  
"Really?" Lavender asked in surprise.  
"Would I lie to you?"  
"I don't know, would you?" She smirked.  
"You know I wouldn't,"  
"I know, anyway, what about Thor?"  
"Thor won't be back until morning. Please come and have dinner, for me?"  
"Ok, I'll come."  
Loki beamed in triumph.


	5. Chapter 5

It was just starting to get dark when Loki and Lavender got to the palace. Loki held Lavender's hand and guided her through the corridors to the dining hall. When they walked in only Frigga was present.

"Loki, I was wondering when you'd get here, oh, Lavender dear, how nice to see you again!" She walked over to Lavender and hugged her then Lavender bowed, "and you, your majesty,"

Lavender heard Frigga whisper to Loki, "I thought you two would never settle your differences," and snickered quietly to herself.

Loki smiled, "where's Father?"

"He'll be coming along in a minute, dear," she told him, sitting down.

Loki pulled out a chair for Lavender and then sat down himself. They sat and talked for a while until Odin came in and then they ate. When they'd finished Loki and Lavender left; Lavender bowing to her king and queen.

Loki led Lavender to one of the balconies and they talked in the cool mid-summer evening.

"Stay with me tonight?" Loki asked.

Lavender sighed, breathing in the sweet air, "I would but my father will be worried about my whereabouts, by rights I should've been home at least an hour ago,"

"I'll send a messenger to let him know you're here," he said, taking her hand in his, "come on, Lav, you know you want to," he smirked,

Lavender smiled, "oh alright then, but only if you get me some more Midgardian fruit," she smirked.

"It's a deal!" Loki laughed.

Loki led her to one of the dance halls where only a harpist was playing.

"Oh c'mon Loki, you know I can't dance!"

Loki smirked, "it's easy! Just stand on my feet and wrap your arms around my neck,"

Lavender did what Loki said, sceptically and Loki wrapped his arms around her waist then started to move, gently to the music. As they swayed, Lavender started to giggle.

"What is it?" Loki asked, amused.

"Nothing, it's just you and we're alone and we're dancing and… it's strange, isn't it?"

"What do you find strange?"

"This, it's just we haven't talked for months and now look at us,"

"Does it bother you?"

"No…" she whispered, leaning in for a kiss, "I've waited so long for this,"

Loki smiled at her, "me too, and for a while you had me worried,"

"What do you mean?"

Loki had stopped swaying and went to sit down, "Well, with Bjorn and then… and then Thor…"

Lavender looked down guiltily, "sorry… Bjorn was nothing really… Bjorn was because I thought you'd never like me the way I liked you and I thought that was the best way to stop hurting myself,"

Loki looked up at her, "I've always loved you, but I always thought that if you fell for anyone it would be Thor…"

"Thor?" She half giggled, "Why would I fall for Thor?" she asked, sitting next to him,

"Why wouldn't you? He's the most popular out of the both of us. He's strong; I mean he has to be to carry mjolnir-"

"Yes, well he's also big headed, arrogant, self-obsessed and-…" she cut off as she noticed Loki looked uncomfortable. Thor was his brother after all, "sorry…" she mumbled, "it's just that you're always in his shadow and it's like he's valued more because of his brute strength, but you, you're so much smarter and you think things through. Brain over muscle, right?"

Loki half laughed, "You really think that?"

"Well, not just anyone could become a master of magic, could they? And anyway, you're tall, dark and handsome," she teased, playfully punching his arm.

"Thanks, Lav," he said smiling at her.

"Come on," she said pulling him back up, "let's dance some more."

Loki got up and they danced some more before going to his room and relaxing on his bed, talking endlessly about stuff that didn't matter until Lavender fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

_The sun had just risen after the third moon and the second moon was high in the sky. Lavender rode home in the cool summer morning breeze and the smell of flowers and trees all around her made the journey pleasant. She took her time; there was no rush. Asgard was a pleasant and beautiful place but something made it more beautiful than usual this morning. _

_She got home to see the front door propped open, her father must've already woken up and she assumed he was in the garden at the back of the house. After putting Chestnut in the stables she went round to the garden to see if her father was there. _

_An old flower bed had been dug up and her father's gloves were on the ground next to a muddy spade; he must've just gone in for something to eat or drink, she thought. She went through the back door that led straight to the kitchen, but no-one was there. It was eerily quiet and the kitchen was a mess. She walked around the workstation that cut the room in two and there, in a pool of blood lay her father, eyes wide open with a dagger in his chest…_


	7. Chapter 7

Lavender woke up in a cold sweat, shaking. Light was just beginning to pour through the windows and she looked to the side of her to see Loki still sleeping. She was relieved to see him there and relieved to know that the dream she'd just had was just a dream. More pleasantly, she'd honestly thought that last night was part of some amazing dream she'd had, but there Loki was, still fast asleep next to her. She settled back down under the cool silk sheets, resting her head on Loki's bare chest and she listened to the steady beat of his heart, trying to get the dream out of her head.

Loki stirred and finally woke up, murmuring, "Lavender…?"

"I'm here," she whispered.

Loki sat up and adjusted to the light, "are you alright, Lav? You look a bit peaky,"

"I'm fine," she said smiling it off, "must be a trick of the light,"

Loki nodded, resting his head against the headboard and closed his eyes.

"Don't go falling asleep on me!" Lavender laughed, cuddling up next to him.

Loki looked down and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head, "no, don't worry about that..." he said with a troubled tone.

Lavender looked up at him; she knew something was wrong; something was upsetting him, "Loki, what's wrong?"

He sighed, "I suppose you should know… My father will be deciding who inherits the throne in a few days and the coronation will be next month,"

Lavender sat up properly, "why does this trouble you?"

"Thor is obviously going to inherit it…"

"Loki, you've always told me that you've never wanted the throne,"

"I never have and I still don't, but, you know something, it'll just be one more thing that shows how much better Thor is than me,"

"Don't say that! You're both as good as each other, you both have your good and bad qualities, Thor's strong, and you're clever. You're amazing Loki, never make yourself second best,"

Loki thought about that; maybe she was right, but then he thought about his father, "that's all I've ever been to my father…"

Loki had a point, all of her life Lavender saw Thor get praise after praise while Loki got hardly anything, despite everything he'd ever done and all the hard work he'd put in. She'd never thought about it properly before and she didn't want to delve into something that was none of her business but still, she hated to see Loki unhappy so she did what she did best; she turned the conversation funny and ultimately changed the subject, "well, you'll always be my king," she grinned cheekily, leaning in for a kiss.

Loki laughed and kissed her back, passionately, then wrapped his arms tightly around her. Lavender had never known this side of Loki before, it took her back, but she couldn't resist reaching into his hair and pulling herself closer to him. He pushed her down on the bed and began to kiss down her neck; it felt so good it almost rendered her defenceless. Loki suddenly stopped and looked at the door, listening.

"Quick," he said almost pushing her off the bed, "get down there and don't make a sound,"

Lavender obediently lay down at the side of the bed, not even bothering to question him.

Loki rolled over and closed his eyes, waiting for the door to open. Thor finally burst in and Loki pretended just to wake up.

"Brother, get up, father wants to speak to us both," he said throwing his coat at him.

"Good morning to you too," Loki laughed, "what does he want to talk to us about?"

Thor shrugged, "I don't know, I just received a note upon my arrival back,"

Loki nodded and stretched, "you go ahead. I'll get dressed and catch you up,"

Thor nodded then left.

Loki got up and started to get dressed, "sorry, I have to go, this seems important, but I'm guessing you need to get back anyway, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, Eleanor won't be any happier if I get back late," she half laughed.

Loki knew that her sister wouldn't be happy about her staying over at all and he could see Lavender wasn't happy about leaving, "come back at lunch and I'm sure there will be some special fruit waiting for you, just like I promised," he smiled, trying to cheer her up.

"Thank you, I'll be looking forward to it," she grinned, starting to get dressed.

When they'd both finished Loki kissed her on the cheek, "remember, I'll always love you no matter what,"

Lavender smiled, "remember that off me too."


	8. Chapter 8

Lavender took her time riding home; there was no rush and she'd rather not face her sister. It was already quite warm and the cool summer breeze felt nice against her skin. The smell of the flowers and trees made the journey home pleasant and reminded her of Loki's room; it always smelt nice and fresh in there.

She got home to see the front door open and her stomach churned; the scene in the kitchen from her dream suddenly came flooding back.

She got off Chestnut and ran to the door. The house was a mess and eerily quiet. She cautiously made her way to the kitchen and opened the door revealing her father's body in a pool of blood.

"Eleanor! Eleanor, get up!" She screamed while running up the stairs.

She reached her room and started banging on the door in panic, what if Eleanor was dead too?

She finally heard movement and Eleanor grumbling. The door swung open, "you have nerve! Palace didn't let you have breakfast?" She spat.

"Eleanor, this isn't the time! Father's-Father's dead…" She told her, trying to keep herself under control.

The colour drained from her and she pushed past Lavender, heading to the stairs in a panicked run. "Lavender, get to the palace now and alert the guards!" She half screamed.

Lavender ran outside, leaping on Chestnut and rode as fast as she could to the palace. She reached the palace and ran towards the guards trying to tell them what had happened, amongst the tears.

Thor and Loki came running down the steps; obviously hearing Lavender screaming in an attempt to get her words out through the tears.

"What's happened?" Thor demanded off the guards, while Lavender ran to Loki.

Thor ordered them to go and told Loki to take Lavender somewhere quiet.

"Brother, I'm coming with you!" Loki protested,

"No, she needs you," Thor said, turning to follow the guards.

Loki led her to his room and sat her down on the bed, "I'm so sorry,"

It took a while for her to reply. She sat on the bed with her head in her hands while the tears just kept coming and coming, "it's all my fault!" She blurted out.

"No, don't you dare blame yourself. There's nothing you could've done," he said kneeling down by her feet and taking her hands in his.

She looked at him, tears trickling down her face, "If only I was there! I could've- I could've stopped whoever was there…"

Loki looked at her, horrified, "No, I know what you mean by that!" Loki knew that she meant it should've been her and he knew she wished it was her.

She just sat there, crying, not knowing what else to do. Loki got up to sit next to her and put his arms around her, trying to be comforting, "shh," he whispered while gently rocking her side to side.

She sat up, not having enough energy to cry anymore, "I should get back to Eleanor,"

Loki forced her to sit back down, "you're not going anywhere, look at the state of you. Thor will reach her, she'll be fine,"

She didn't resist; she didn't have enough energy to resist. She rested her head on Loki's chest and closed her eyes, trying to shut out everything.

"Everything's going to be alright, I promise,"

The thought crossed her mind though; would everything be alright?

Loki began to rock her again and she began to drift off into a dark, dreamless sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Lavender woke up in Loki's bed but Loki was nowhere to be seen. She turned over to see a tray with a bowl on it and a note. She reached out for the note and read it:

_Dear Lavender,_

_ I left this just in case you wake up before I return; don't worry, I won't be long, I'm only with my father and Thor. I've left you a little treat to cheer you up, but I'm guessing you've already seen that._

_ Loki_

She sat up and saw that in the bowl Loki had left there were some strawberries and some kiwis. She took a bite out of one of the strawberries; it was so juicy and the sweetness of it made her mouth water uncontrollably. It was slightly tangy and sour too, but that only made her mouth water even more.

She heard a knock on the door and turned to see Loki's head popping through, "how are you feeling?" He asked,

"I'm ok…" She lied; her voice sounded choked and her throat hurt, "the strawberries are delicious! Thank you,"

"I thought something like that might cheer you up a little bit,"

She smiled slightly, and then got up, "I should go, you all seem busy here and my sister needs me,"

"Before you go, I have to ask something. Before your father was murdered, did you notice anything strange?"

Lavender shook her head, "not that I can think of…" she paused for a moment to think, "No… I… I'm sure I saw something the other night, when I was riding back home, from here after visiting you when you were sick,"

"What did you see?"

"It was in the distance, I could only make out a hooded figure; I don't what it was,"

Loki nodded, "I'll tell Thor. Let me take you home,"

Lavender knew this wasn't a request; Loki was going to take her home whether she liked it or not and she was secretly glad he'd offered.

They both went to the stables to fetch Chestnut and they both climbed on. Lavender wrapped her arms around Loki's waist and rested her head on his back.

Loki took his time getting there, he knew Lavender wasn't in a hurry and he knew that she wanted to stall. Even with Loki taking his time though, the journey still went too fast for Lavender. She didn't really want to go back to the house, but she felt like she had to, for her sister.

When they reached the house Lavender got off Chestnut, "take him back with you; I don't want you walking all the way back,"

"Whatever you say," Loki laughed, "I'll stop by later, if you want?"

"Yes, I'd like that," she smiled,

She watched Loki leave until she could no longer see him over the horizon then turned to the house. It looked so dark and unhappy now.


	10. Chapter 10

She walked slowly into the darkened house and called for her sister. Eleanor walked into the doorway of the kitchen; her face tear stained. She looked at Lavender accusingly, "I didn't realise it took that long to get the guards," she said bitterly.

She looked guiltily to the ground, "I was-"

"I know where you were!" She said, raising her voice, "you were in the same place you were last night, with the same person."

Lavender and Eleanor had never really got on. Eleanor was five years older than Lavender; meaning she was five years old when she lost her mother. Lavender knew her sister blamed her for their mother's death and now she was getting the impression she was blaming her for her father's death too.

"You should've been here this morning," she continued, "and why weren't you? Oh yes, because you were too busy having a little sleepover!"

"It wasn't like that!" She said, trying to defend herself, "it was getting dark and Loki didn't want me riding home late at night… and I sent a note to tell father about my whereabouts!"

"I don't care whether you sent a note or not! You should've been here!" She shouted at her.

Lavender stayed silent. She didn't know what to say.

"It's your fault! Mother is dead because of you and now father! You're a curse to this family!" She screamed, slamming the door in her face and dissolving into tears.

Lavender stood there, listening to her sister crying behind the kitchen door while tears streamed down her own face. Maybe she was a curse to her family? She thought about it and decided to leave; her sister clearly didn't want her there.

She decided to take the long and miserable walk back to the main city. It took her hours and when she finally got there she was exhausted. She wanted to be alone so she headed for the palace stables where she knew Chestnut would be. She didn't want Loki to know she was there so she went down through the secret entrance Loki had shown her when they were children. There were a lot of people coming and going from the palace so the guards paid her no notice. Someone from behind called out for her. Her heart skipped a beat before she realised who it was, "Fandral! How are you? It's been too long!"

Fandral came to her and gave her a hug, "It's been far too long! I'm very well thank you, and yourself?"

"I'm ok, thanks," she smiled,

"Were you just coming to see Thor and Loki?" He asked,

"No, I came by to get my horse from the stables. Why are there so many people around today?"

"Didn't you know? Odin is deciding who will inherit the throne today,"

"I didn't think that was happening until a few days?"

"It wasn't supposed to. The coronation will be earlier too, only by a couple of days though,"

"Do you know who's inherited the throne yet?"

"No, not yet, the All-Father will be announcing it in about an hour. I'm betting its Thor though,"

"I think you'll be right!" She smiled, "anyway, how's Sif?" She asked smirking.

"She's still not happy with you!" He laughed.

Lavender laughed with him, "her face was a picture though!"

"Indeed it was! I'll never let her forget that,"

"I still can't believe we pulled it off,"

"You were lucky it was her who came through the door; it could've easily been Thor,"

"In which case it would've been a whole lot funnier and I would've been forgiven!" She laughed,

"You have a point there," he laughed with her, "anyway, I must bid you farewell. I hope it's not too long until we see each other again," he said kissing her hand,

"I hope so too," she smiled.

She watched Fandral head towards the main courtyard - presumably to meet with Sif and the others - then left to go to the stables.


	11. Chapter 11

She poked her head around the corner of the door to check if anyone was there and saw Loki. He was leaning against the lower stable divider; it would seem Lavender wasn't the only one who wanted to be alone. She slowly walked in and silently sat next to him.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I think that's the question I should be asking you,"

Loki looked at her and said nothing.

"Thor has inherited the throne, hasn't he?"

Loki nodded, "I just don't get why I'm never good enough!"

"Loki, don't-"

"No!" He said standing up, "it's true – before you say it's not. I don't want the throne but it would be nice to be treated with a little more respect!"

"Loki, does it matter what they think?"

"Yes, It does!" He snapped, before storming out.

Lavender sat in the silence and muttered, "Must be someone else's life I've messed up…"

Chestnut nudged her arm and she looked over at him, "I don't know what to do…" she told him, "maybe I could live alone, on Midgard?" Chestnut just nudged her again. "This is what I've become? I'm talking to a horse for crying out loud!"

She reached up onto a shelf to get a brush and began to brush through Chestnut's mane and then his whole body. She took her time and did it at least twice. When she'd finished she went over to fetch some oats and let him pick at will at it. She sat down watching him as her own stomach growled, "What should I do?" She sighed to herself, "I've got nowhere to go…"

Loki headed for the stables to see if Lavender was still there. He felt guilty for snapping at her before, especially knowing what she was already going through. A part of him wasn't really expecting her to be there, but still, he felt like he should try.

"Lavender?" he called out,

Lavender stayed silent for a moment before getting up, "What do you want, Loki?"

"I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier, will you forgive me?"

She sighed, "Yes, I always do, don't I?"

Loki smiled, "What are you still doing here?"

"I don't think my sister much wants my company…"

"You can stay here for the night, if you wish?"

"If I'm not too much trouble," she smiled,

"What do you mean 'too much trouble'?"

The bitterness came through as she tried to hold back tears, "It's only, I'm a curse to my own family,"

"Of course you're not!" he said, pulling her into a hug, "come on let's go inside, it's getting cold in here," he said, kissing the top of her head.


	12. Chapter 12-Coronation Day

Lavender stood in the crowd near the back; she could hardly see, but the atmosphere was unlike anything she'd ever felt before, people were cheering and shouting everywhere and there was an all-round happy feeling.

Suddenly everyone at the front had gone silent and the silence spread to the back – Odin had begun to speak. Lavender could hardly hear him but she heard Thor shouting "I swear!" several times.

Odin was just about to proclaim Thor king when he stopped suddenly. Everyone around her started muttering, and when Odin, Thor and Loki suddenly left everyone erupted with gossip and possible theories as to what had just happened. Theories were as wild as elves and even frost giants.

Instead of listening to the various theories, Lavender decided to try and find out for herself. She barged through the crowd trying to get to the gates, and met Harald there.

"Harald, may I go past, please?"

"I'm afraid not. No-one's allowed in yet,"

"What's happened?"

"Take my advice and go home, Lavender. The young prince Thor will not be happy about his coronation being disturbed by frost giants,"

"Frost giants? How could frost giants get into Asgard?"

"I have no idea, but trust me, frost giants are not to be played with; I fought in the last war,"

"Thank you, Harald. I'll go now,"

Lavender went to the main courtyard and positioned herself somewhere where she wouldn't be seen by the guards pushing the crowds away, but she would be seen by Thor or Loki coming out of the palace.

It was an hour before Thor, Loki, Sif and the warriors three came out. Lavender rushed to Loki's side, "what happened?"

"I'll tell you when we get back," he smiled,

"Get back from where?"

"Jotunheim,"

"Jotunheim? But the All-Father-"

"I know, Lav…" he pulled her close and whispered, "I don't plan on us getting all the way there, don't worry,"

Lavender nodded in reply, "will you meet me here, when you come back?"

"Of course," Loki said climbing up onto his horse, "I'll see you soon," he smiled, and then he left after the others for the Bifrost.

She watched him ride off and smiled. Little did she know that everything was about to change.


	13. Chapter 13

She saw the Bifröst open after the All-Father had ridden out, then a few minutes later it opened again. She realised they were all going to be in heaps of trouble since Odin had forbidden anyone to go to Jotunheim.

Sif, Hogun and Volstagg came through the courtyard carrying Fandral, "What's happened?" Lavender shouted, running down the steps towards them.

"Nothing major," Fandral laughed, wincing slightly.

Sif rolled her eyes and Volstagg explained that they'd gotten into a fight with the frost giants and Fandral had been injured. Lavender let them carry on towards the healing room and told Fandral she'd check up on him later.

Lavender waited for Thor and Loki but only Loki came. Loki had a grave expression on his face as he walked towards her.

"What's happened?"

"Thor has been banished…" he muttered.

"What? But why?" Lavender asked in shock.

Loki shrugged and continued to the palace.

"Loki, are you ok?" She asked, following him in.

"Yes!" He snapped at her.

Lavender stopped, "well, I was only asking!"

Loki turned around to look at her, "Sorry. Listen, I'm fine, now just go home or something?" he said storming off.

Lavender was left alone, fuming, "oh yeah, because I really have a home to go to…" she muttered to herself, storming to the healing room.

By the time she got there she'd cooled off and was calmer. Fandral was sitting on a bed, slipping a shirt on, "hey, are you ok?" She asked,

"Yes, thank you," he beamed, "when you said you were coming to check up on me later, I didn't think I'd be seeing you this soon!"

Lavender laughed, "Well, I had to make sure you were ok, didn't I?"

After Fandral had been healed they all went to one of the main rooms where Loki was standing quietly. Lavender noticed he looked upset and assumed it was because of Thor's banishment, but she was very wrong.

Lavender stood off to the other side of the room, opposite Loki. Sif, Fandral and Volstagg sat down while Hogun paced, silently.

"We should never have let him go," Volstagg started.

"There was no stopping him," Sif replied.

"Well, at least he's only banished, not dead," Fandral always looked on the bright side, "which is what we'd all be if that guard hadn't told Odin where we'd gone,"

"How did the guard even know?"

Lavender looked over to Loki, seeing the guilt on his face, she wanted to tell him that this wasn't his fault and that he'd done the right thing but she knew this wasn't the time or place for her to speak.

"I told him," Loki spoke up.

Everyone except Lavender looked at Loki in surprise, "what?"

"I told him to go to Odin after we'd left. He should be flogged for taking so long; we should never have reached Jotunheim,"

"You told the guard!?" Volstagg exclaimed,

"I saved our lives, and Thor's. I had no idea father would banish him for what he did,"

Sif stood up, "Loki, you must go to the All-Father and convince him to change his mind,"

"And if I do, then what? I love Thor more dearly than any of you, but you know what he is, he's arrogant, he's reckless, he's dangerous. You saw how he was today. Is that what Asgard needs from its king?" There was slight anger in his voice but he didn't raise it. He left the room, storming out to avoid any more conversation.

Sif faced the door where Loki had left and Fandral stood up. Lavender moved to sit next to Fandral while Hogun rubbed ointment into Volstagg's burn.

"He may speak of the good of Asgard, but he's always been jealous of Thor," Sif said, turning around.

"We should be grateful to him, he saved our lives,"

Hogun suddenly spoke up, "Laufey said there were traitors in the house of Odin. A master of magic could bring three Jotuns into Asgard,"

Lavender knew where this was going and so did the others. Fandral, who was stood up by Lavender defended him, "Loki's always been one for mischief, but you're talking about something else entirely,"

"I agree," Lavender said, standing up.

"Yes, well you would, wouldn't you," Sif snapped.

Lavender turned on her, "why would Loki bring Frostgiants into Asgard? Who in their right mind would do such a thing?"

"You've never taken the time to notice how Loki always reacts when Thor gets praise, have you?"

"And how would you say he reacts?"

"You can see it, in his face, you can see him seething with jealousy,"

Lavender laughed, "Really, that's all you see? Loki may be jealous sometimes, I can give you that, but he loves Thor dearly, and he's always been proud of him. Now, please tell me, what would bringing three Frostgiants into Asgard gain Loki?"

Sif walked out avoiding any more questions and Lavender sat down calmly.

Fandral sat down next to her, "maybe you could talk to him? You could get him to talk to the All-Father,"

"I think I'll let him cool off first; he doesn't seem in the talking mood," she trailed off, "anyway, what happened to your arm?" She asked, heading towards Volstagg,

"Damn frost giant got a hold of it," he told her.

Lavender grimaced, "that's all it did? Touch you?"

Volstagg nodded.

"They're certainly nasty fellows!" Fandral laughed.

Sif walked in again, "I know what we have to do!"

"And what's that?" Fandral asked.

"We have to speak to the All-Father himself, Loki certainly won't do it!"

"Now, hang on-"

"No, she's got a point. Loki won't go to him and someone has to," Lavender spoke out.

Sif looked at her with the closest expression to 'thank you' that she could manage towards Lavender, "so it's settled then?"

The others nodded, not prepared to argue with her.


	14. Chapter 14

"All-Father, we must speak with you urgently!" Sif declared, as they all entered the throne room.

None of them expected what they saw. There was Loki, sitting on the throne with Odin's sceptre in his hand. No-one knew what to say, no-one spoke a word until Loki spoke up.

"My friends," he started,

"Where's Odin?" Fandral asked the question that was on everybody's lips,

Loki looked troubled and his voice was shaky, "father has fallen into the Odinsleep. Mother fears he may never awaken again,"

"We would speak with her," Sif said.

Lavender felt like saying they should give Loki a chance, maybe he could help now, but she knew better. She was lucky to even accompany them.

"She has refused to leave my father's bedside. You can bring your urgent matter to me," he then stood up and composed himself, saying, with a less troubled and more confident and dominant tone, "Your King,"

There was silent pause before Volstagg kneeled. Hogun and Fandral quickly followed with Lavender and Sif was the last to bow.

"My king, we would ask that you end Thor's banishment," Sif declared,

Loki laughed slightly, walking towards them, "my first command cannot be to undo the All-Father's last. We're on the brink of war with Jotunheim. Our people need a sense of continuity, in order to feel safe in these difficult times, all of us must stand together for the good of Asgard,"

Sif stood up and Fandral and Hogun quickly grabbed her back; 'thank the All-Father for their quick reflexes' Lavender thought.

"Yes, of course," Fandral said, trying to ease things down,

"Good, then you will wait for my word,"

"If I may, beg the indulgence of Your Majesty to perhaps reconsider-"

"We're done," Loki declared authoritatively,

Volstagg then stood up, with Hogun and Fandral –who still held his arm to his chest- soon after. Lavender looked up at Loki, still kneeling and not really knowing what to do, and he gave her the look he used to give her when they were children, whenever Lavender slipped up, calling him 'your majesty'. She then slowly got up.

Volstagg and Hogun were the first to leave, while Sif just looked at Loki disapprovingly and almost challenging, and then Fandral left. Sif smirked a little while Loki's body language told her to get out and then she left. Lavender had followed Fandral out but Loki's sharp mention of her name made her jump,

"Lavender, you will stay for a moment,"

"Yes, my king," she said hesitantly glancing back at Fandral.

Fandral nodded to her, meaning 'it's up to you to try and make him reconsider'.

She slowly walked back towards Loki as Sif passed her, "be careful as to what you say," she mumbled so only Lavender could hear.

Lavender then knelt again.

Loki waited for the others to leave before he spoke again, "Oh get up!" He spat,

Lavender slowly and hesitantly got up but Loki was already there, dragging her by the arm, into a small, private room.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing is wrong with me!" He snapped, "Now, you shall listen to me very carefully, yes?"

Lavender nodded, slightly frightened and intimidated by Loki, who was still gripping her by the arm.

"You will go home and stay there. I don't want you anywhere near the palace, do you understand me?"

Lavender picked her confidence up, she knew Loki wouldn't hurt her, "and why's that?"

"You would question your king?" He said gripping her tighter,

"Loki, what's happened to you?" she asked, trying to pull away from him,

Loki saw that she wasn't going to leave without answers but he couldn't tell her the truth. All he wanted was for her to be safe and if that meant hurting her feelings then that's what he'd have to do, "I don't love you!" He spat, throwing her arm down,

Lavender couldn't believe what she was hearing, "wha-… no, you're lying…" she choked out,

"I don't love you," he repeated,

"Wha… what happened to 'I'll always love you no matter what'?"

"That was a lie, Lavender! It's always been a lie, did you really think that I would fall in love with someone like you?" He hated every word that came out of his mouth; he hated every word that hurt her.

Lavender's heart had practically shattered, but now he'd said it, it all made sense and she felt stupid for not realising sooner, "your heart is icier than Jotunheim itself!" She spat at him, slapping his face as hard as she could and leaving before he could react.

Loki watched her leave, every fibre in his body wanted to call her back and cradle her, saying he was sorry and that he didn't mean a word of what he'd just said, but he had to let her go. He slowly walked back to the throne room with a stinging handprint on his face.


	15. Chapter 15

Lavender sat in the stables and cried until she didn't have the strength to cry anymore. The one person who she cared about the most and who she'd thought would never leave her had left and she felt helpless.

She stood up wiping the tears from her face and saddled Chestnut up. Maybe this was just a combination of grief and power, she thought. One thing she knew for certain though, was that he was up to something and that whatever he was up to wasn't good. He needed someone to talk him out of whatever he was doing and Lavender knew that the only person who could do that was Thor.

Lavender climbed up onto Chestnut and rode for home as fast as she could. She didn't care if her sister was there or not; she was the last thing on her mind.

Luckily for her, her sister was out by the time she'd got there. She ran straight to her room and rifled through her drawers searching for the closest thing to Midgardian as possible. She settled for her riding clothes which were just a pair of trousers, which weren't too tight or too baggy and the top half of a tight fitting dress which she'd sewn into a blouse after ripping the bottom. She covered herself in a cloak so no-one would see what she was wearing, then left for the Bifröst.

Heimdall met her at the end of the bridge, "Why do you wish to go to Midgard?"

"I need to speak with Thor."

"You cannot bring him back."

"I know, but I need to speak to him, I believe Loki is up to something and I wish to ask his advice; may I pass?"

Heimdall nodded.

"I would appreciate it if you wouldn't tell Loki it was me who left."

Heimdall nodded again, "He is currently in Jotunheim, so there is no need for him to know."

"Thank you."

She could hear Heimdall say "good luck," just as the Bifröst pulled her into space.


	16. Chapter 16

She landed in the desert with the hot sun beating down on her. She saw a town in the distance and began to walk towards it. She knew Midgard must've changed since Sif and the warriors three last came back but she didn't expect this much change. She'd never actually been to Midgard before but she'd read so many books and Fandral, Loki and Thor had told her so much about it.

She saw an old woman standing outside a shop and approached her, "excuse me, but do you know if a man has recently arrived to this town?"

The woman answered without hesitation, "oh yeah, big tall man with long blonde hair?"

"Yes, he's a friend of mine. Could you tell me where I could find him, please?"

The woman pointed in the direction of a large building, "the last I heard he was with that Jane Foster. You should find him there."

"Thank you kindly!" She said, jogging off towards the building.

She saw them all having breakfast, at first she didn't recognise Thor; he was dressed in strange clothes with a dish cloth over his shoulder, helping with breakfast. She giggled a little as she knocked the door. Thor recognised her immediately, as Jane opened the door to let her in Thor gave her the biggest hug imaginable, "Lavender, I've missed you so much! I thought I'd never see you again!"

"I thought you'd never survive Midgard," she laughed. She then turned to Jane, "Hello, I'm guessing you're Jane? I'm Lavender," she said, holding out a hand.

Jane shook her hand, "err, yeah, I'm Jane," she smiled.

Erik looked at her in amazement, "so he really wasn't lying when he said he was the God of Thunder!"

Lavender looked to Erik and then to Thor, "err, no," she giggled.

"I'm Erik Selvig," he said holding out a hand.

Lavender shook his hand, "nice to meet you," she smiled,

"Hey, I'm Darcy!" Darcy waved, still sitting at the table and smiling.

"Hi," Lavender replied, smiling back.

"So, are you two, um...?" Jane asked pointing back and to to them.

Lavender shifted awkwardly, "err no, I err, no, we're just friends."

"So why are you here?"

"I need your help," she said looking to Thor.

"Lavender, I can't help you…"

"Yes you can. I just need your advice, you see, I think something's wrong with Loki and I-" she stopped to take a deep breath, "I can't do this alone."

"What's happened?"

"May we talk somewhere more private?"

Thor looked to Jane and she led them into a small room. They both thanked her as she left and then Lavender continued.

"Loki's become king…"

Thor nodded, "I know, he's heir as I'm banished and my father is… is dead…"

"He's dead?" Lavender said in shock.

Thor nodded, "didn't you know?"

"All I've heard is that he's slipped into the Odinsleep… but that's not important, not right now. He's changed, and not for the better."

"What do you mean?"

"He… the last time I spoke to him he told me to leave the palace and to go home, he said he didn't want me anywhere near the palace…" she choked off, thinking about what he'd said next.

"Do you know why?"

Lavender shook her head, "no, he didn't say. I just thought it was odd, you know, not many people are told to stay away from the palace unless they've done something terribly wrong."

"Yes, I see where you're coming from, but why you? He's always loved your presence, why would he tell you to go like that?"

Lavender shrugged, sitting down, "He's always loved my presence, you say?"

Thor nodded, "well yes, and I suppose, he's always loved _you._"

Lavender smiled bitterly, "well, I guess he had us all fooled!" she said trying to keep her tears under control and not let anything slip.

"Lavender, are you ok, what's happened?" Thor asked, kneeling next to her and taking her hand in his.

"It's just… Loki… like I said, he's changed and I don't know whether its grief or power getting to his head or whether he's actually telling the truth."

"What did he say to you?"

"He said he doesn't love me, he said he never has and I…" she broke off unable to hide the tears.

Thor put his arms around her, "Lavender, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," she said, wiping her tears away and taking a deep breath.

"Maybe it is though. Maybe if I hadn't have been so stupid then maybe this would never have happened."

"But Loki said he's_ never_ loved me-"

Thor cut her off, "I know for a fact that's a lie."

"Then why would he say something like that?"

"I don't have an answer for that, I'm afraid. My advise would be to just try and talk to him, that's all you can do, he'll come round, trust me, he can't cope without you, now come on and have breakfast with us."

Lavender nodded "thanks, I'd like that," she smiled.


	17. Chapter 17

When they'd all finished breakfast Jane began to explain something to Erik and Thor and Lavender cleaned up. Suddenly there was a loud knock on the glass and they heard Volstagg shout, "Found you!"

Lavender rolled her eyes, 'sure, that's definitely low key' she thought to herself.

Lavender turned to see Erik drop his cup and giggled to herself, "They're the more unruly people of Asgard, like Thor," she whispered to them, trying not to laugh.

Thor ran over to them giving them each a hug, "my friends!" He exclaimed in delight.

"This is good!" Volstagg laughed.

"I don't believe it," Erik said, clearly astounded.

"Oh, excuse me, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three!" Volstagg said, introducing themselves.

"My friends, I have never been happier to see anyone, but you should not have come."

"We're here to take you home," Fandral told him.

Thor looked at them confused, "you-you know I can't go home, my father is dead because of me, and I must remain in exile."

Sif looked at him confused, "Thor, your father still lives."

I mixture of relief and yet more confusion spread across Thor's face as Sif explained what had happened since he had been exiled.

"Well, I didn't know you were one for breaking rules," Fandral laughed, heading towards Lavender.

"What do you mean?"

"Coming to Midgard of course!"

"I didn't know that was a crime; since when?"

"Well, a few hours ago, I suppose."

"I left while Loki was in Jotunheim; he must've ordered that after I left,"

"Loki was in Jotunheim?" Thor asked.

"Yes, that's what Heimdall told me as I left."

"I fear my brother is up to something, as you said, Lavender, and it can't be good if it's led him to Jotunheim."

A rumble of thunder in the distance caught all of their attention. They looked outside to see the clouds twisting as the Bifröst opened.

"Was someone else coming?" Darcy asked.

"Do you think it could be Loki?" Lavender asked.

"I fear not…" Thor muttered, "Jane you have to leave."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm staying here," he told her.

"Thor's going to fight with us!"

"My friends, I'm just a man. I'll only be in the way, or worse get one of you killed, but I can help get these people to safety," Thor started.

"Well, if you're staying, then so am I."

"As will I!" Lavender joined in.

"We'll need some time," Thor said.

"You'll have it!" Fandral shouted.

"Ok, move it people!" Darcy shouted as they all began to clear people out of buildings to get them into cars and to safety.

"Thor, what's happening?" Lavender asked

"I think Loki is sending the Destroyer."

Lavender's face drained as she began to clear even more people out. She'd never seen the destroyer before and she'd never wished to, but it didn't take a genius to know what it was capable of.

Suddenly she saw it. It slowly walked towards Sif and the Warriors Three destroying everything in its path. She watched as Volstagg charged at it, only to be thrown back by a mere back hander. Sif flew through the air landing on the destroyer, pushing her spear through its neck as Volstagg lay on top of a car. It seemed a little too easy, but it powered down. Everyone relaxed a little until they saw the fire inside it reignite and its whole body reverse to face Sif.

They fell back but it was close behind, back to destroying everything in its path. A blast hit Sif and sent her flying over a car. Lavender ran towards them to help but as she reached Sif another blast hit in between them, sending Lavender flying straight through a building.

Her breath was knocked out of her as she lay there, unable to move. She could hear Fandral shout her name but was unable to tell which direction it was coming from. "Go! I'm fine!" she managed to shout before she slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

**ok, so updates may be slow because my laptop is acting a bit dodgy, but I'll try to update as much as possible! In the mean time could I please get a few more reviews? I'd love to know what you think of the story so far! Thanks! :)**


	18. Chapter 18

_Lavender was back on Asgard, standing at the edge of the city looking towards the Bifröst; it was out of control, destroying Jotunheim. Two figures emerged from inside it, fighting; one red cape and one green cape. _

_Thor sent Loki flying through the air and once he'd landed he placed his hammer on his chest to keep him from moving. Thor tried to get into the Bifröst again, but the force coming from it made it impossible; he called for mjolnir and began to smash the bridge. _

_Lavender could feel herself change, as if she wasn't there anymore, each time Thor smashed the bridge this feeling became stronger and stronger. She looked down at her hands and saw that they weren't solid anymore; they had an almost transparent look to them and they gleamed. _

_She looked back towards the Bifröst in time to see both Thor and Loki flying through the air off the bridge. Odin had awoken, just in time to grab Thor and stop him and Loki falling off the bridge. _

Lavender was now between consciousnesses. She could feel the terror and empty feeling of the dream, but she could see the light and feel the warmth of Earth's sun, even though she wasn't awake and she could make out Fandral's familiar voice.

His voice sounded shaky and panicked, _"She's dead!" _he called out.

She could hear Thor's voice but she couldn't make out what he was saying; it was as if they were slipping away.

The light suddenly faded and she plummeted into darkness again.

_Lavender felt herself move; she was now standing on the edge of the bridge and she could see Thor holding Odin's sceptre while Loki clung onto the other end. _

_They were speaking but Lavender couldn't hear them. She saw a single tear fall down Loki's face as he let go and fell into the dark abyss of space. _


	19. Chapter 19

"LOKI!" Lavender screamed, pushing herself up.

She ran, to the best of her ability, outside to see Erik and Darcy getting into a van, "wait!" She shouted.

Darcy heard and looked at her in disbelief as Erik ran to her, "What happened to you? Are you ok?"

"Yes…" she lied, clutching her ribs, "where's Thor and the others?"

"They left. They thought you were dead!"

"I thought so too… can you take me to the Bifröst site?"

"Yes, of course, get in."

Erik drove as fast as he could to the Bifröst site but deep down Lavender knew they'd be too late. They got there just in time to see them leave but it was too late for Lavender; she knew she was never going to see her home or Loki ever again.

They all got out of the van and Erik, Darcy and Jane circled the sight while Lavender leaned against the van.

The wind was strong and there was sand and dust everywhere in the air but suddenly it all dropped and Lavender knew what had been done and she knew that in a matter of minutes Loki would be dead.

Erik and Darcy walked back to the van with Jane following slowly behind them. Erik and Darcy got into the van while Jane looked towards the Bifröst site one last time.

"It wasn't his fault, Jane."

Jane looked to her, "he's not coming back, is he?"

"He can't, the Bifröst has been destroyed, there's no way to get here… or there."

"You're stranded then?"

Lavender nodded, getting into the van, "I'll explain everything to you when we get back to town, ok?"

Jane agreed and they left.

"There must've been a fight between Thor and… Loki, and in that fight Thor had to destroy the Bifröst in order to keep Jotunheim safe," Lavender explained.

"So, Thor's brother tried to destroy a whole world and Thor saved it?"

"In short, yes. It seems Thor changed quite a bit during his exile… and so did Loki."

"I'm sorry that you can't go home."

"It's ok; it wasn't much of a home, not in the end, and anyway, a new experience doesn't hurt anyone," she smiled weakly.

A knock on the door interrupted them, "Miss Foster?"

"Yes?" Jane replied.

"We'd like to debrief you now and…" Coulson cut off, "who's this?"

Lavender stood up, "I'm Lavender," she told him.

"Agent Phil Coulson, from S.H.I.E.L.D," he said, shaking her hand, "are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Are you the same as Thor?"

Lavender smiled, "yes, I'm from Asgard, if that's what you're asking?"

Coulson nodded, "we'll need to question you separately."

"Yes, of course," Lavender sighed.

Throughout the questioning all Lavender could think about were her last words to Loki, they seemed to ring in her ears. The questions all seemed a little pointless to her anyway, but she answered them to the best of her ability.

"That'll be all, thank you for your cooperation."

"May I ask a few questions myself, if you don't mind?"

This was a first for Coulson, but he agreed nonetheless.

"What happens to me now? I'm stranded, with no home, no food, money or clothes and I know nothing about how your people live."

"S.H.I.E.L.D will help you up onto your feet, but what happens after that will be up to you."

Lavender nodded, "thank you."

"Is there anything more you'd like to ask?"

Lavender thought for a moment, and then answered, "Sorry, my curiosity is getting the better of me; what exactly is S.H.I.E.L.D? It's just that you said I would be coming with you to meet… err… Director Fury?"

"Yes, if you wouldn't mind. S.H.I.E.L.D. is Earth's first line of defence. That's all you need to know for now; this is all top secret and no-one else needs to know about this conversation."

"Yes, of course, I understand," she sighed.


	20. Chapter 20

Lavender had been told they were heading for a city called New York; not that that meant much to her. The journey there felt never ending and despite the numerous stops Lavender was beginning to get pins and needles in her feet. She rested her head on the window, hoping that sleep would take her away from her torturous thoughts. If she'd been alone she would've dissolved into tears by now, but she wouldn't let any human see her cry. She knew that no matter how hard she thought life was in Asgard, it was about to get ten times harder and she had to be prepared; she couldn't let anyone see that she was weak. She took a few deep breaths to clear her thoughts, 'there will be plenty of time to think about all this later' she thought to herself.  
The car suddenly began to slow down and for the first time Lavender actually took in her surroundings. There seemed to be tall buildings everywhere; they weren't as big as the buildings in Asgard but they were still big.  
Coulson opened the car door and Lavender got out, saying a quick 'thank you' and looked around properly; it was very different to Asgard and it was going to take a lot of getting used to.  
"If you'd follow me, please," Coulson said, leading her into a building.  
Lavender followed Coulson into a huge reception room where he greeted several people and led her into a lift. She felt uneasy as it went up and it made her stomach churn. On the other side of the door was another room, but it was quite different to the reception. Here, everyone was dressed in similar uniforms and were hurrying about doing work. There were computer screens everywhere and on one she could see a picture of the destroyer and on another she saw Thor.  
Coulson led her to the back of the room to an office. Coulson knocked the door and it opened, there, in the doorway stood quite a tall, bald man wearing an eye patch to cover some sort of wound; 'just like Odin' Lavender snickered to herself in her head.  
"You must be Lavender?" The bald man asked.  
Lavender nodded, "and you must be Director Fury?"  
Fury nodded back and led her into the office. The questions were pretty much the same as the one's asked by Coulson in the debriefing until Fury asked an unexpected question.  
"Can you fight?"  
Lavender found this odd but she went with it, "no, not really, why?"  
"But if you were trained up?"  
"I'm a fast learner so I suppose so, yes."  
"A fast learner you say?"  
Lavender nodded, "yes, why?"  
Fury ignored the question, "Your friends…" he looked at a folder that lay on his desk and continued, "…from Asgard, they were pretty strong."  
"They were the best warriors of Asgard; of course they were strong."  
"So you don't share their strength?"  
"No, but I am stronger than mortals, if that's what you're asking?"  
"And you're stranded, here on Earth with no way back to your home?"  
"Yes."  
Fury looked at her, "you seem an intelligent woman and for some reason I don't picture you working in a shop scraping to make a living here."  
"What are you proposing?"  
"I would like to offer you a job here. You'll work and be trained by the best and S.H.I.E.L.D. will provide you with accommodation and we'll help you to get on your feet."  
Lavender was going to agree, but she thought she might as well try and get some information out of Fury, "and what does this job entail?"  
"In short, you'll help protect this planet from any potential threats."  
Lavender grinned, "when do I start?"  
Fury looked pleased with himself and smiled, "you've had a long journey and I'm guessing you've been through quite a lot. Agent Coulson will escort you to temporary living quarters for you to rest and you will start first thing in the morning."  
"Thank you," she said, shaking Fury's hand, she then followed Coulson to her room.  
"It's not much," Coulson explained, "but it's only temporary, just until we find you a permanent location."  
Lavender nodded, "thank you for your hospitality and this chance."  
"No problem," Coulson smiled, leaving her.  
Lavender walked into the room and quickly closed the door behind her; she was relieved to finally be alone. The room was small and it didn't feel very homely, but like they'd said, it was only temporary. There was a bed in the corner of the room and small table with a lamp next to it. On the other side of the room there was a desk, facing a wall with a few pieces of paper and a pen on it.  
She walked over to the bed and sat down, leaning against the wall and closed her eyes to stop herself from tearing up.  
'I can't believe the last thing I said to him was 'your heart is icier than Jotunheim itself'…' she thought to herself, 'I never meant it and he died with that as the last thing I'd said to him. I'd give anything to see him again, even if he never loved me.'  
She rested her head on her pillow and slowly drifted off to sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

_Lavender's dream was a mixture of home and something different entirely. She heard Loki scream in pain several times and a few whimpers. She didn't know where he was; it was just dark. She heard Loki scream out, begging for the pain to stop several times, but it continued. She could hear someone or something else in the background, a dark voice came closer and closer until Lavender could hear the voice whispering, "you betrayed the one you loved most and now she doesn't love you, she hates you and who can blame her? You destroyed her life!"_  
_"Please, stop…" Loki whimpered._  
_"I think you need some more convincing!" The voice spat._  
_Lavender felt heat and she could make out a bright burning light. The light came closer and closer until everything went dark for Lavender again, then she heard the most terrifying screech imaginable coming from Loki._  
_"Stop it!" Lavender tried to cry out but nothing came of it, her lungs felt empty and she couldn't move a muscle. She tried to scream out for some sort of help, but yet again nothing came of it._  
_Loki screeched again, a lot louder than the last time. Lavender couldn't take anymore and was finally released from her torturous dream._

Lavender woke up in a cold sweat and her heart was pounding. That couldn't happen she told herself. Loki was dead, so no-one could hurt him, and anyway, she could always see what was happening in those situations; she saw her father dead, she saw the Bifröst destroyed and she saw Loki fall to his death.  
A knock on the door broke her train of thought. "Come in!" she called.  
A young woman walked in holding a tray of food and some clothes. She was average height and had short, brown hair, pulled into a ponytail. "Hi, I'm Heather Mitchel."  
"Lavender," she replied, getting up as Heather handed her the tray of food, "thank you," she smiled, setting the tray on the desk. Her stomach suddenly growled as she realised that she hadn't eaten in over a day.  
Heather handed her the clothes, "these are for tomorrow. I'll be helping to train you up so I'll come and wake you up in the morning, if that's ok?"  
Lavender nodded, "oh, yes of course, thank you."  
"No problem. You'll need your sleep for tomorrow, get some rest," she smiled, walking out the room and closing the door behind her.  
Lavender placed her clothes for the morning on the chair and started to pick at the food. It wasn't the best, but it felt good to get something in her stomach. As she finished she yawned and decided to go back to bed. She just hoped that she didn't continue her previous dream.


	22. Chapter 22

She continued to dream about Loki all throughout the night, although the screams seemed farther away now. A knock on the door woke her, Lavender got up and stretched, then opened the door.

"Good morning, I brought you some breakfast," Heather smiled handing her another tray.

"Thank you," she smiled back.

"No problem. I'll give you an hour to get ready and then I'll come back and give you a tour of the base before we start training, ok?"

Lavender nodded, "that might be to my benefit. I'll be ready."

"Good, I'll see you in an hour then," she said, leaving the room.

Lavender set the tray down on the desk and took her clothes into the bathroom where she quickly washed and got dressed. When she'd finished she quickly plaited her long, blonde, messy hair and began to eat.

Heather knocked just as she finished and they began the tour of the base. It was boring, but Lavender benefited from it. She tried to pay attention as much as possible but her dreams were still troubling her.

Just as she thought she couldn't take the tour anymore they reached the training room.

"Just to let you know, I'm only filling in at the moment," Heather said, opening the cupboards.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll be training with Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton; they're the very best."

"So why aren't they here?"

"Well, they're both on missions at the moment. Natasha is working undercover at Stark Industries."

"What's that?" Lavender asked, confused.

"Oh err, it's a business, I guess. She's keeping an eye on Tony Stark, or something, I'm not really in the loop, but you'll meet him soon enough."

"Oh right… so, what about this Clint Barton, then?"

"He's still in New Mexico… that's where you first landed. He should be back in a couple of days, you'll love him! He's a great guy, and he's got a great sense of humour."

Lavender nodded, "I'm sure I will…" she sighed.

Heather didn't know what else to say. She was getting the impression that Lavender wasn't a very talkative person, but then again, she had just been uprooted from everything she'd ever known, "I hope you settle down here well… I know it must be hard for you, you see, this is a long way from my home too."

Lavender looked up and smiled, "thank you, but it's not really that; I've just had a really rough month."

"Why's that, if you don't mind me asking?" Heather asked.

"My father died last month…" she said vaguely.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't realise."

"No, no, it's ok… it's just that, that was only the beginning… but you don't want to hear my sob story," she smiled, "shall we get started?"

Heather felt like Lavender just needed a good talk and time to adjust to things. It was just like Fury to start training someone straight away, leaving them no time to adjust, but Heather agreed, "so what do you want to start with?"

"What have you got?" Lavender asked.

"All sorts really. We'll keep with weapons today though; I'm not too keen on hand to hand combat, that's more Natasha's forte."

"What are you good at?" Lavender asked curiously.

"Most people would say my guns," Heather laughed, "but I have a good aim when throwing knives."

"I could give that a go," she smiled, "I know I'm not that good, but I'm not that bad either; I used to have a friend…" Lavender suddenly thought back to Loki and the way he used to practise for hours, throwing various blades in the training room. Lavender used to sit, quietly watching as he hit target after target, she even gave it ago herself a few times; they were definitely happier times.

"Sure, that would be fun, and a nice way to start, I guess."

They'd only been practising for about an hour when Lavender began hitting the middle of the targets consistently.

"Wow, you really are a fast learner," Heather stated, amazed.

Lavender laughed, "Thank you."


	23. Chapter 23-Six Months Later

It had been six months since Lavender first came to Earth and she'd settled in well. After the first couple of days Clint had come back and started to train her up with guns and various other weapons. Her aim wasn't brilliant to begin with but she learnt fast. Heather was right, Clint was a great guy, he never failed to make her laugh and she loved being with him. Natasha came back a few days after Clint and started with hand to hand combat. She was more serious than Clint but Lavender liked her and she became close friends with both of them.  
Like Heather predicted, Lavender also met Tony Stark, about a month after arriving. She found him slightly arrogant and very sarcastic but this just made him the funniest person ever and luckily for her, it was her job to check up on him every now and then.  
She was currently walking home after a long day at work. Steve Rogers had finally woken up after about fifty years encased in ice (although she still didn't know exactly how that was possible) and the paper work was hell, still, everyone was really excited by it.  
She'd decided to walk the long way home so she had more time to herself, just in case she was called back in for some reason. She suddenly spotted Steve, sitting at an outside café and decided to walk over to him. "Well, I really can't escape this job," she laughed.  
Steve turned around, "Ma'am. I didn't realise that I was being followed around."  
"Oh, you're not," Lavender smiled, sitting down opposite him, "I assure you, this is pure coincidence; I was just walking home."  
"Oh, right."  
"Paper work sure is hell with your awakening."  
'I can imagine..." Steve sighed.  
"You know, I realise how hard this must be for you…" She started.  
Steve looked up at her doubtfully, "really?"  
Lavender nodded, "you've lost your old life forever and you can never go back. I've only been working for S.H.I.E.L.D. for six months."  
"What's that got to do with anything?"  
Lavender paused, not knowing how to phrase it, "well, you see, I'm not from here… it may be hard for you to comprehend but, I'm from another world…"  
Steve didn't look too shocked; it was nothing really, compared to what he'd seen with HYDRA. He nodded slowly, "so you can't get back to your world?"  
Lavender shook her head, "no, and you know what? I never thought I could adjust to this life, but in these situations I believe we always surprise ourselves. You'll be pleasantly surprised with yourself, I'm sure."  
"You really think so?"  
Lavender nodded, "I know so."  
Steve smiled a little, "thanks for this talk, you sure S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't put you up to it?"  
"You have my word," she smiled, "you see, I didn't have anyone here for me who understood what I was going through, and it was hard, so if you need to talk, just say so."  
"Thank you, I appreciate it."  
"It's really not a problem. May I ask you a question? If that's alright."  
Steve nodded, "sure, go ahead."  
"You come from a different time… What was it like here back then?"  
"There were a lot less cars," he half laughed, looking at the road, "and, considering we were at war, it was a lot less hectic."  
Lavender smiled, "there weren't any cars on my world, and things weren't very hectic either."  
"What was it like there?"  
"It was nice…" she smiled thinking back to the good times she had on Asgard, "it was erm… it was very err… I think you would say medieval… definitely old fashioned compared to this planet. You have cars and wagons, we had horse and carts," she laughed, "that sort of thing. But the palace was huge and the buildings towered high above the streets below. We had three moons and a sort of Rainbow Bridge that seemed to stretch forever to the Bifröst and the edge of space…" she trailed off thinking about it.  
"That doesn't seem very medieval to me, it seems fantastic though. Why did you leave?"  
"I suppose we were having a bad week…" she half laughed, "my friend was banished here and his brother inherited the throne… he changed and I came here hoping that Thor could help me. I don't think anyone could've predicted what happened next. I was injured and I had to stay here while Thor and his friends sorted things out…"  
"And did they?"  
Lavender nodded, "well, sort of… in the fight between Thor and his brother the Bifröst was destroyed, meaning I was left stranded on this world. You see it's like a bridge between other worlds."  
"So you really can't ever go back?"  
"No, but I'm liking this life, and I don't think I could live on Asgard anymore anyway…"  
"Why's that?"  
Lavender swallowed hard remembering Loki letting go of the sceptre, "my friend… he err… he died…"  
Steve suddenly felt guilty for asking, "I'm sorry," he said reaching out his hand for hers, "I lost my friend too,in the war."  
Lavender smiled sadly, "we have a lot more in common than I first thought then."  
Steve agreed, "Would you like a drink or something?"  
"No, thank you, I should be getting home, sorry… but I should see you tomorrow," she smiled.  
"See you tomorrow then," he smiled as she started to walk away.  
Lavender turned back around, "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell anyone about this conversation."  
"Got no-one to tell."  
Lavender nodded, "thanks…"

(I'm just back off holiday so updates will be back to normal now :) 


	24. Chapter 24

By the time Lavender got home it was dark and she was tired and hungry. She quickly made herself something to eat and then went to bed.

_Lavender was in an unfamiliar base, it looked like a S.H.I.E.L.D. base, but she couldn't be sure. She walked through the corridors until she reached a lab. In the middle of the room was a small, blue glowing cube surrounded by heaps of equipment and people. She looked around the people trying to spot a familiar face until she saw Erik Selvig and Fury approaching him. By now, she'd guessed that she was having a vision, but she thought that Erik was still in New Mexico. _

_They were both talking but she couldn't hear them; like usual. Everyone around her was rushing about and she didn't need to hear what Erik and Fury were saying to know that something was wrong. She saw Erik point behind him and she looked in that direction to see Agent Barton. Clint left his post to meet with Fury and they began talking. _

_Despite everything going on, Lavender didn't see how this was relevant to her. Every vision she'd ever had was always personal to her. She knew Clint, Erik and Fury, but this wasn't anything to do with her, unless one of them was to somehow die, but that seemed very unlikely in this situation. _

_Suddenly the energy around the cube pulsed out slightly and began to spark, as it did this, the whole place started to shake. The cube sparked even more and it became more and more violent until the cube began pulling in the strange blue energy around it and shot out a bright line of energy to the other side of the room, opening some kind of portal into space. The portal became bigger and bigger until it collapsed, sending the blue energy rolling out across the room, revealing a dark figure, surrounded by blue energy._

_As the energy cleared the dark figure became more visible and Lavender saw that it was a kneeling man holding a spear with the same type of glow as the cube. The man stood up and Lavender realized immediately who it was. A mixture of joy and confusion overwhelmed her and she tried to move towards him, but she couldn't. Her stomach began to churn but she didn't know why. She looked at him properly and realized that he looked terrible; he looked ill. _

_S.H.I.E.L.D. guards slowly approached him with their guns aimed at him. Fury spoke and Loki looked at him and then to his spear. Everything after that happened so fast and Lavender didn't expect any of it. Loki attacked Fury with his spear and the guards opened fire immediately but none of the bullets really affected him and he killed the guards to his front with the spear. The guards at the back fell victim to Loki's brilliant aim with knives and a scientist to the blast of his spear. He continued with his attack until every threat to him was gone and the lab lay in ruins. _

_Clint slowly got up and Loki quickly apprehended him, but instead of killing him, he placed the tip of the spear onto his chest and somehow placed him under some sort of mind-control, along with another agent. As he was doing this, Fury was placing the cube in a case and attempting to leave, but Loki stopped him in his tracks. Lavender expected him to place Fury under his mind control too, however they began to talk. Lavender was beginning to grow impatient with the fact that she couldn't hear anything; she needed to know what was going on. Loki suddenly turned to Erik, putting him under his influence too; now there was only Loki and Fury left in the room that wasn't under the influence or unconscious. Fury began to speak again and Clint interrupted him, a few more words were said and then, for a reason that Lavender couldn't know, Loki made Clint shoot Fury and they left. _

_Lavender was beginning to leave the dream but before she left, she saw Loki trip and hold his side in pain._

* * *

Hi, I hate to beg, but please review and let me know what you all think because I haven't had a review in ages and I just want to know if I'm still doing good. Thanks! :)


	25. Chapter 25

Lavender woke up with mixed emotions. She was relieved and overjoyed that Loki was still alive but she didn't understand how he was alive; she'd clearly seen him fall and the possibility that he survived that was almost impossible. But then came the confusion and almost disappointment, why did he come to Earth and why had he attacked?

Suddenly the phone rang and she quickly picked it up, "Hello?"

"Lavender, I want you in, now."

She knew that this had to be because of Loki, but her dreams had never come true this fast before, "Director, is that you? What's happened? Are you ok?"

"Yes it's me, now enough of the questions and just get to base. You'll be given orders from there," he said bluntly and then hung up.

Lavender quickly washed and dressed herself, grabbed a quick sandwich, then left for base. It was early morning and still dark, so traffic was light and made the journey easier.

Coulson met her at base. "How's Fury?" she immediately asked.

Coulson looked at her confused.

"He got shot, didn't he?" Lavender asked impatiently.

"Yes, but how did you know that?" Coulson answered in wonder.

"I'll tell you later. What are my orders?"

"You'll be going to the helicarrier headquarters; you'll get your orders when everyone else has arrived."

Lavender nodded and went with Coulson to an air base where he left her in a quinjet. "Aren't you coming?" Lavender asked.

"I'm bringing Stark in."

* * *

The quinjet landed on what seemed like a floating runway and Lavender was greeted by Heather.

"Heather, I didn't expect to see you here!" Lavender beamed, giving her a hug.

"I was delighted to hear they were bringing you in," she grinned, "come on, let's go inside, they want to brief you on what's happened."

"I already know…" Lavender said, following her inside.

"Oh, did Coulson tell you?" Heather asked, slightly surprised.

"No… I err…"

Fury cut her off, "I'd like to speak with you, in my office, now," he said walking away.

"God, I hope you're not in trouble Lav."

Lavender turned to her at the mention of her nickname; no-one had called her that in what felt like years. "Me too…" she mumbled deep in thought, following Fury.

"I think you have something to tell me," he said, sitting down.

Lavender slowly walked in, closing the door behind her, "I don't know what you mean…"

"You know exactly what I mean. Coulson told me that you knew I got shot and just now I heard you say you already know what's going on. I'm having a hard time believing you were there and didn't help so would you like to give me an alternate explanation?"

"I don't know exactly how to put it…" she began, "I just…" she took a deep breath, no-one else knew about her visions and they were weird even by Asgardian standards, "I have visions, in my dreams…" she told him, knowing it sounded ridiculous.

"Really..." Fury sounded sceptical.

"I know it sounds ridiculous but it's the truth."

"Why haven't you told us about this before?" he asked.

"I've only ever had them twice before this one, so I didn't think anything of it and they're personal, I never thought they would be of any value…"

Fury found the 'they're personal' part interesting, "how personal?"

Lavender knew she was treading thin here, "the first vision I had, I saw my father dead, and in the second vision I saw the Bifröst destroyed and my best friend fall to his death…"

"How was this one personal?"

"My friend, who died, he was, err…" she cut off; she knew that after this she was probably going to be thrown off this assignment for being too close to the target.

"Go on," Fury pushed.

"He was Loki…"

"And you're sure he died? Because I just witnessed him kill half a dozen agents and take Doctor Selvig, Agent Barton and a few other top agents with him."

"I know, I saw. He clearly is alive, somehow, though I have no idea how because he fell off a bridge into the abyss of space and that was six months ago. Now, just throw me off this assignment and get it over and done with."

"Why would I throw you off this assignment?"

Lavender paused, "you're not throwing me off this assignment, even after what you just heard?"

"Well, you had that vision and your main concern was me, after realising I had been shot and not Loki. He hasn't contacted you, has he?"

"No, sir, I wouldn't think he knew I was here in the first place."

"Good, you might be able to tell us some of his tactics then."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I really wouldn't know… All I know is that he's got a good aim with blades, but with that spear of his, I have no idea. This isn't the Loki I know, he's different, but I'll help you all I can."

Fury nodded, "you'll wait for the others to get here before anything else is said or done."

"Yes, of course, but, may I ask who else is coming? Coulson said he was bringing Stark in."

"We're bringing in Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers and Doctor Banner."

"Aren't they…"

"Yes. You can go now."

Lavender nodded and then left quickly, relieved that she wasn't in trouble or thrown off the assignment.


	26. Chapter 26

It was a few hours until Natasha, Steve and Doctor Banner came on board. Lavender greeted them and smiled sheepishly at Steve.

"Lavender, I want you to go to the lab with Doctor Banner; I'll be there soon," Fury told her.

Lavender nodded and followed Natasha and Banner to the lab. Natasha left Banner to it, leaving them both alone.

"Fury's up to something…" she said out of the blue.

Bruce looked at her, "What do you mean?"

"Well, he told me to stay here with you, even though I know nothing of science and he said he'd be here soon."

"He's probably just keeping you here to watch over me, you know, in case of the other guy."

"You're probably right, but you wouldn't have come here unless you could control yourself, right?"

He nodded, "well, yeah, but you can never be too sure."

"I trust you," she smiled, getting up to go over to him, "I'm Lavender, by the way."

"Bruce," he smiled back, grateful that she treated him like a normal person.

"So, you're going to search for Gamma radiation in order to find the Tesseract?"

Bruce nodded, "it'll just narrow it down."

"And that's where you come in," Fury said, walking in.

"What do you mean?" Lavender asked.

"You said you have visions."

"Well, yes, but only when I'm sleeping."

"We can induce sleep. Doctor Banner, could you help?"

Bruce nodded in reply.

"It's settled then. You might be able to narrow the search down even more."

Lavender nodded and reluctantly agreed.

"How long will you need?" Bruce asked her.

Lavender shrugged, "I don't know… give it an hour or two, but I doubt it'll work."

"Try thinking about the Tesseract or Loki while you're going under, it'll give you a focus point."

Lavender nodded, trying to get rid of her nerves. She wanted this to work, but she was worried what would happen to Loki if they got to him. She watched Bruce measure the sedative out, "wait, I have a faster metabolism than you humans; double it."

Bruce looked towards Fury and he nodded, giving him the go. After getting the syringe ready he walked over to Lavender, "It'll only feel like a scratch and it'll take a few minutes for it to kick in."

Lavender nodded and began thinking about Loki. She doubted it would work but she was going to try her best. She slowly went under:

_Lavender stood outside and took in her surroundings; she was in a small town; she'd been there once before so she knew how to get there, but the question was, where was Loki? _

_She felt herself move towards a small abandoned shop with a faded sign. Her hand reached out for the handle and she turned it, opening the door and then walked inside. There was dust everywhere and Lavender had a hard time believing anyone had been in the shop for a long while; there wasn't a trace of anything but dust. She walked into the back room and opened a small, old door. The door didn't look like it had been used, even when the shop was open. The door opened, revealing steep steps leading down into some sort of underground catacomb. She walked down the steps and through the corridors memorizing every turn she took. She reached a sort of crossroads where she could see a lab, but her dream took her down another path into an empty room where Loki sat._

Lavender woke up in a cold sweat. She heard Fury say, "Did you see anything?"

It was like her dream was still in control, without even thinking about it she replied, "No, I didn't see a thing," while rubbing her head.

Bruce knelt down next to her, "you might feel a little nauseous right now, it's perfectly natural."

Lavender nodded, "I'm sorry I wasn't any help."

"It was a long shot," Fury said leaving.

"Here, have a drink, it might make you feel better," Bruce said, handing her a glass of water.

"Thank you," she said, taking the glass and having a sip.


	27. Chapter 27

Lavender had decided to go and find Loki, she thought she might be able to talk him out of whatever he was planning, but at the moment her main issue was getting off of the helicarrier without anyone noticing. It would be easy getting a pilot to take her down, but it would be harder to do that without someone noticing.

She walked up to the hangers where a quinjet was about to take off, "wait, I have orders to go down!" she quickly lied. The pilot took her down without thinking anything of it and agreed to take her back up when she got back.

Before going to the town in her dream she decided to drive home to get her gun and her old cloak. When she reached the town she searched for the shop, it took a while, but she found it. She made sure no-one was around before opening the door and walking in, and quietly closed the door behind her. As she headed for the back door she covered herself in her cloak to shield herself in the dark. preventing catching any real attention. She took out her gun and slowly walked down the stairs.

Lavender remembered every turn perfectly and narrowly avoided the attention of two guards jogging to lab. Now was the tricky part, she had to somehow get across to the corridor leading to Loki without attracting the attention of anyone in the lab. Half poking her head around the corner, she saw no-one was looking and seized her chance; she quickly ran past the lab and didn't stop until reaching the room where Loki was.

Loki was sat on a step, using his sceptre to communicate with someone else. He wasn't talking out loud, but Lavender knew he was communicating with someone. As she slowly approached Loki, she pointed her gun towards him for safety. He suddenly came out, thrusting his head to the side and breathing heavily.

Lavender took her chance and held the gun to the back of his head, "put the spear down and face me," she commanded.

Loki stayed still for a moment, then put the spear down and stood up.

"Hands up."

Loki suddenly recognised her voice, put his hands out and turned around, "Lavender…" he whispered softly.

She didn't answer him, but instead pushed him back so he couldn't reach his spear.

"Lavender, it's me…" he began.

"I'm not blind, I know it's you," she snapped.

"Lavender, I thought you were dead."

"Snap."

"Lavender, why don't you trust me?"

"Oh, the fact that you attacked S.H.I.E.L.D. took the tesseract, taking Clint and Selvig with you. I saw everything."

"Why did you come then?"

"To test a theory…"

"And what would that be?"

She ignored him, "your eyes are looking very blue…"

Loki looked at her confused, "what has that got to do with anything?"

"Your eyes are green."

Loki dropped the act, throwing a knife in Lavender's direction. Lavender lunged out of the way, dropping her gun in the process and slamming herself against the wall. Loki ran to get the spear but as he reached for it, Lavender threw her knife at him, hitting his hand. As he bellowed in pain she grabbed her gun and ran for the door with a spear blast nearly hitting her from behind. She ran down the corridor past the lab, this time grabbing their attention. She ran for the stairwell with gunshots firing behind her, but thanks to Clint's training she managed to take a few of them out and slowed them down enough so that she got up the stairs before they got to the bottom of them. She bolted the door, ran through the streets to her car and floored it back to New York without looking back once.


End file.
